Power actuated lock pick



A118 21, 1951 v w. J. MlsKlLL 2,565,254

POWER ACTUATED LOCK PICK Filed April 16, 1 948 Y ATTO;NE Y

Patented Aug. 21, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PoWEn AcfrtiATEnLoeK PIeKv Wiiiam Miskiil, Chattanooga, "'en. 'Apieatiniirii it, 194s, serialy No. 21,436

This invention relates an improvedlock picking machine for imparting a yibratory motion to a lock 'picking blade and incre particularly has reference to an electrically actuated meehanism for imparting an vibratori' motion tothe blade support. 'v

Another object of the inventiovriy is to provide a machine of the aforedescrild character of ex'- tremely simple construction andf'wheiein through the making and breaking of' an electric circuit automatically' accomplished-iii the operation of the machine the constantI vibratory' motion of the lock pick blade willbe ceomplished'without the operator being required to execute any manual operation sothat tlie` implement, whicl'ris' ina''- ually supported, can be' 'accurately held and guided by the operatr for accomplishing the lock picking operation.

Still a further object of 'the invention is' to' provide a device for' accomplishing Ythe afred= scribed result which: is of extremely simple con: struction, capable of being economically inanu= factured and sold and which will be veryy eiiicient and durable'for it's'intendedpurl'nis.k

Another object of thel invention is toprovide an implement whereby a, lock picking operation can' be accomplishedi muchniore rapidly' and with considerably less-'manual effort than is required in employing manually actuated lock picking de;

vices. v

Various otherv objects and Miva-ntag'esA of the invention willl hereinafter become" more fully ap; parent from the following description of I the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred ern; bodiment thereof, andwwhereinz Fig-ure 1 is aside elevatienalview of the assembled machine f Figure 2 is a fronty elevational View thereof locking from lefttofrightof Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the ma"- chine looking-from right to left of Figure 1;

Figure 4 isa longitudinaly sectional view, partly in side elevation taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of 'Figure 3;

Figures 5 andA 6 are horizontal cross sectional views taken substantially along planes as indi cated by the lines 5&5 and 8-6, respectively, of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing the parts in` 'aI interrupting position,

and

Figure 8 is aperspective view of a to'ol for use with the lock'picking blade.

Referring more specificlly to' trieV drawing, the novel lock picking machine its" entirety :ind

s claims. (ci. 81-3) Y 2 which is designated generally I0 includes a housing, designated generally II in the shape of a pistol grip` and` which is preferably formed of corresponding sections I2 detachably connected by fastenings. I3. The housing II has two electrical conductors I4 and I5 extending therethrough from the lower endY of said housing. or gripiv II` to adjacent the upper end thereof.. Said conductors IIIl and. I5 project from the back edge of the housing I-.I adjacent its upper end and through an opening I6 thereof, adjacent the upper end of said housing. A conventional electric Switch, designated generally I1 is attached to the opposite, front edge of the housing or grip Il and the conductor I5V is provided with spaced portions which.v are connectedY to the two con-i tacts: not shown, of the switch il and whereby al gapl is normally formed between said portions of the conductor I5 and which is adapted to be electrically bridged by pressing inwardly on the plunger orlv button I8l of the switch Il', all in a conventional' manner. The conductors I4 and I5 are' each enclosed in a tubing or casing I9 of a suitable insulating material, except portions of the conductor I5 which are connected to the switch ITl and the exposed ends of the conductors. as will' hereinafter become apparent.

' A yoke-shaped supporting frame 2li has a substantially flat intermediate portion 2! which is mounted n the upper end of the' grin or housing 'II' and transversely thereof. A bracket 22 has intermediate portion suitably secured, as by welding, not shown, to the under side of the intermediate traine part 2| and which is disposed in a' recess "23 at the uriner end of #he housing Il. ''ie bracket 22 is' provided with downwardly and inwardly curved free endg4 24' having terminal portions which are apertured and which bear against corresponding portions of opposite sides of the housing II and through which the upperiristI fastening I3 extends. Said fastening I3 cotripr'isesa headed bolt and nut. A' solenoid, designated generally 25, includes two corresponding' units 26 and 21 which are suitably Secured to the upper side of the inter-'- mediate portion 2| of the frame 2!) and the coiled wires of which are connected by a con'- fluctcr' w' 21a, as seen in Figure 2. Solenoid units 26' and 21 are electrically insulated from 'the frame 20 by insulators 28.

The frame 20 is provided with upwardly di- 'vergirig arms 29 that rise from the ends of the intermediate portion- 2I`, outwardly of the Asolelnoia z5 sac-1i of which arms terminates in an outturned terminal portion 30 which carries a clamp 3l. A normally iiat spring 32, preferably formed of two or more elongated resilient leaves, as best seen in Figures 4 and 7, is disposed above the solenoid 25 and with the ends of the spring 32 secured to the terminals 30 by the clamps 3l.

An armature 33, illustrated as comprising two metallic bars, has a rod 34 extending through the central portion thereof and which is preferably Xed therein. The rod 34 also extends through an intermediate portion of the spring 32. A metal strip 35, through which the rod 34 extends, is interposed between the armature 33 and spring 32 and has downturned terminal portions 35 which engage opposite sides of the armature 33 and upturned lugs or terminal portions 31 which engage the side edges of the spring' 32 to prevent the armature and rod 34 from turning relatively to said spring. Accordingly, the armature 33 is disposed beneath and substantially in alignment with the spring 32 and with the solenoid 25. The upper end of the rod 34 is threaded to receive two clamping nuts 38 by means of which the armature is clamped to the spring 32 and above said nuts 38, the rod 34 is longitudinally slotted as seen at 39 to detachably and adjustably receive the shank portion of a lock picking blade 40. A nut 4I engages the threaded rod portion above the blade 4I! for clamping the blade between said nut and the uppermost locking nut 38 and a locking wing nut 42 engages the upper threaded end of the rod 34 to retain the clamping nut 4I in adjusted position.

The bracket 22 is provided with an upstandiner extension 43 which rises from the side edge thereof and which extends upwardly from the housing II adjacent its outer or rear edge. as best seen in Figures 1, 4 and '7. The supporting arm 43 supports an angular bracket 44, one lee of which is connected to the outer side of said arm 43 by fastenings 45. Interposed between the arm 43 and the adjacent portion of the bracket 44 is a standard 46 through which the fastenings 45 loosely extend and a strip of insulating material 41 is disposed on either side of the standard 46 for insulating said standard from the arm 43 and bracket 44. as clearly illustrated in Figures 4 and 7. The standard 46 is provided with an inturned upper end 48 carrying on its underside an electrical contact 49, A leaf spring f) is anchored by fastenings 5I and a retaining plate 52 to the upper side of the other end of the bracket 44 and extends inwardly therefrom and has its free end disposed beneath and in engagement with the underside of the yarmature 33. The leaf spring 5I), which is formed of a con* ducting material, is provided with a contact 52a on the upper side thereof and which is disposed to normally engage the contact 49.

As best seen in Figure 3, a conductor wire 5Ia.

connects the coil of the solenoid unit 21 to a laterally extending portion of the standard 46` and as clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 4, the end of the electrical conductor I5 which extends from the opening l5 is connected to one of the fastenings 5I thereby forming an electrical connection with the contact 52a, through the resilient conductor strip 50. The corresponding end of the conductor wire I4 is connected to the coil of the solenoid unit 26.

The opposite ends of the conductors I4 and I5 are adapted to be connected to any suitable source of electrical current, not shown. prefer- 4 ably with a transformer interposed between the machine I0 and current source.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the circuit to the solenoid 25 will normally be interrupted by the switch I'I. The grip-shaped housing I I can be grasped in either hand and by applying one linger to the switch plunger I8, said plunger can be pressed inwardly for bridging the gap between the conductor portions I5 for closing the electric circuit to the solenoid 25, assuming that the conductors I4 and I5 are connected to a source of electric current. When this occurs the solenoid 25 will be energized and magnetized for attracting the armature 33 downwardly. As the armature 33 is drawn downwardly the spring 32 will be ilexed downwardly and at the same time the resilient conductor strip 50 will also be caused to ilex downwardly at its inner or forward end by its engagement with the armature 33. Accordingly, as the armature approaches the solenoid the resilient conductor strip 50 will draw the switch contact 52a out of engagement with the contact 49 thereby interrupting the electric circuit at the switch 49, 52a for de-energizing and de-magnetizing the solenoid 25 so that the spring 32 will return the solenoid 33 from its position of Figure 7 back to its position of Figures 2, 3 and 4. As the solenoid 25 is thus moved upwardly the resilient strip 50 will return to its position of Figure 4 thereby returning the contact 52a into engagement with the contact 49 for again energizing and magnetizing the solenoid 25 for repeating the operation just described. It will thus be readily apparent that the solenoid 25 will be alternately magnetized and in combination with the spring 32 will thereby impart a vibratory motion to the lock pick blade 40 which is supported by said spring. Accordingly, so long as the plunger I8 is held depressed the lock'pck blade 40 will be vibrated in a vertical plane to enable the proper impact to be imparted to the tumbler of a lock for accomplishing the lock picking operation.

Figure 8 illustrates a tension implement 55 which is-adapted to be disposed in the keyway of a lock to be picked beneath the blade 40 and for holding the lock pick blade in the upper part of the key'way and in a position for impact engagement with the lock tumblers.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or Scope 0f the 1nvention as hereinafter deiined by the appended claims.

l claim as my invention:

1. An electric lock picking machine comprising a supporting structure adapted to be manually engaged and supported, a solenoid supported thereby and adapted to be connected to a source of electric current, an armature for said solenoid. a resilient support connected to said supporting structure for supporting said armature in spaced relationship to the solenoid, means connected to said resilient support for supporting a lock pick blade thereabove and for movement therewith, an electric switch interposed in the electric circuit of the solenoid and including a xed contact and a resilient contact, and said resilient contact` having av portion disposed beneath and in engagement with the armature whereby when the solenoid is energized and magnetized for attracting the armature said resilient contact will be moved by the armature to a circuit interrupting position for de-energizing the solenoid, and` said resilient support reacting to move the armature away from the solenoid when the solenoid is de-magnetized.

2. An electric lock pick as in claim 1, said supporting structure including a yoke-shaped frame in which said solenoid is xedly disposed, said frame having upstanding side members, clamping means on the upper ends of said side members for detachably engaging and clamping the ends of the resilient support to the frame and for positioning the resilient support above the solenoid.

3. An electric lock picking machine comprising a manually supported supporting structure, a solenoid xedly supported thereby, a spring bridging a portion of said supporting structure, an armature supported by said spring in spaced relationship to the supporting structure, means mounted by said spring for adjustably and detachably mounting a lock picking blade, said solenoid being electrically energized for attracting the armature and flexing said spring, a switch interposed in the electric circuit to the solenoid including a movable contact, and a resilient member normally supporting the movable contact in a circuit closing position and disposed to be engaged and moved by the armature to move WILLIAM J. MISKILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 616,554 ORourke Dec. 27, 1898 1,254,990 Daley Jan. 29, 1918 2,055,129 Hill Sept. 22, 1936 2,268,654 Goddu et al. Jan. 6, 1942 2,309,677 Segal Feb. 2y 1943 2,346,474 De La Torre Apr. 11, 1944 OTHER REFERENCES The Manual of Locksmithing, by s. A, McLean of Denver, Colorado, 1941 (pages 297- 298). 

